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76-786: The alliance was formed prior to the 2004 Georgian parliamentary election, which was held after the 2003 Rose Revolution in Georgia. Both New Rights and the Industry Will Save Georgia refused to join rallies of the other opposition parties during the Rose Revolution, criticizing its leaders and distancing from the event. After the 2004 parliamentary election, both the Right Opposition and National Movement traded allegations of vote rigging. However, neither of these claims were substantiated by observers from

152-629: A "common trade area in South Caucasian region" and restoration of Georgia's territorial integrity by creating a common economic projects with the Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia . Rose Revolution [REDACTED] Government of Georgia [REDACTED] Mikheil Saakashvili [REDACTED] Nino Burjanadze [REDACTED] Zurab Zhvania [REDACTED] Eduard Shevardnadze The Rose Revolution or Revolution of Roses ( Georgian : ვარდების რევოლუცია , romanized : vardebis revolutsia )

228-448: A Dictator , a film portraying the fall of Slobodan Milošević in the nonviolent Serbian revolution. Other networks, such as Imedi television and Mze began to report on the political process more objectively, possibly influenced by Rustavi-2's defiance. Rustavi-2 would eventually be the network to commission and broadcast the exit poll results of the 2003 parliamentary election, which found Saakashvili's National Movement party victorious over

304-526: A Serbian organization that played an important role in the Bulldozer Revolution that happened three years prior and which ended the presidency of Slobodan Milošević in Serbia. A significant source of funding for the Rose Revolution was the network of foundations and NGOs associated with Hungarian-American billionaire financier George Soros . The Foundation for Defense of Democracies reports

380-481: A large anti-government rally in downtown Tbilisi. Because Ivanishvili was unsatisfied with the format proposed for the country's public TV broadcaster's election debates on September 9 and 18 September, his Georgian Dream coalition refused to take part in them - the country's first such events. Ivanishvili would not debate prime minister Vano Merabishvili and would meet only Mikheil Saakashvili , saying: "I respect Vano, but [debates with him] will not work”. After

456-512: A local election monitoring group). Saakashvilli and the United Opposition accepted ISFED's PVT as "official" results, and urged Georgians to demonstrate against Shevardnadze's government and engage in nonviolent civil disobedience against the authorities. The main democratic opposition parties united to demand the ousting of Shevardnadze and the rerun of the elections. In mid-November, massive antigovernmental demonstrations started in

532-402: A majority of the seats. President Mikheil Saakashvili conceded his party's defeat. The elections were held in accordance with a reformed electoral system agreed upon by the government and several opposition parties in 2011. 77 of the 150 seats were allocated proportionally to party lists, the remaining 73 to the winners in single-member constituencies . The new parliament was relocated from

608-686: A man who was unwilling to break the Soviet patterns of personal power, political corruption, and authoritarian rule embedded in traditional Soviet cadre politics. Corruption had become so rampant, that off-the-record deals may have accounted for 60-70% of Georgia's total economic activity. The Shevardnadze regime was not seen as being capable of addressing corruption. Opposition candidates, such as Saakashvili, could successfully gain much support with an anti-corruption political platform. Georgia held parliamentary elections on November 2, 2003. At stake were 235 seats in parliament of which 135 would be decided by

684-405: A nationwide proportional party-list system and 85 were "majoritarian" contests in which a winner would be determined in each of Georgia's 85 electoral districts. In addition, a nationwide referendum was held on whether the future parliament should be reduced to 150 members. Voters used a separate ballot for each of these three contests, folding them together and placing them in a single envelope which

760-457: A network of pro-democratic organizations. Western democracy promoters also circulated public opinion polls and scrutinized election data throughout Georgia. An important factor in the Rose Revolution was the independent television channel Rustavi-2 , which served as an ally for the opposition movement for years. It was highly critical of the regime, and openly supported the opposition. Georgia's broad Freedom of Information law gave media outlets

836-406: A new leader. The outgoing speaker of parliament, Nino Burjanadze, assumed the presidency until new elections could be held. The Supreme Court of Georgia annulled the results of the parliamentary elections. New elections happened six weeks later on January 4, 2004. Unopposed and with 96.2 percent of the vote, Saakashvili became the new president of Georgia and was inaugurated on January 25. He became

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912-428: A radical opposition party led by Nino Burjanadze , which had refused to join the electoral reform talks, was behind the 21–26 May 2011 rallies , which ended with a clash with police, leaving four dead. On 7 October 2011, Bidzina Ivanishvili , a multi-billionaire businessman and philanthropist, who had formerly been on good terms with the authorities, stirred up the political scene of Georgia by unleashing criticism of

988-459: A result, the Georgian civil registry agency ruled his Georgian citizenship had become invalid. According to the law, only Georgian citizens can set up or fund a political party. In May 2012, the parliament voted to allow European Union citizens to become MPs. On 27 May 2012, Ivanishvili and his Georgian Dream alliance announced the start of the campaign, drawing tens of thousands of supporters in

1064-447: A significant role in the Rose Revolution. By the end of 2000, the number of NGOs estimated to be in Georgia numbered around four thousand. The 1997 Civil Code made the registration of an NGO relatively easy, and they operated in Georgia with few restrictions. Though only a small portion of those likely had influence on the government or were successful in lobbying, several had leverage in parliament. While public participation in these NGOs

1140-448: A televised meeting later with prime minister Merabishvili, justice minister Zurab Adeishvili, prosecutor-general Murtaz Zodelava and new prisons service chief Giorgi Lortkipanidze, he called for reforms, saying: "This system, the way it is now, should be entirely abolished." It was, he added, "an emergency" and he ordered that patrol police officers should perform prison duties until reforms were enacted. The foreign ministers of Bulgaria,

1216-772: A three-person working group to consult with the outgoing executives over a smooth shift of power. On 4 October, the UNM formed a four-member team to negotiate with the incoming parliamentary majority. Georgian Dream activists gathered in front of some District Election Commissions in constituencies where UNM candidates were leading, according to official preliminary results. The chairman of the Central Election Commission, Zurab Kharatishvili, complained that electoral commissioners had been intimidated. Prominent Georgian Dream politician Irakli Alasania claimed there had been manipulations in some precincts. Representatives of

1292-537: A visit by the foreign ministers of Sweden and Poland the previous week in order to discuss preparations for the election with unnamed national leaders and opposition figures. The OSCE electoral observer team's Tonino Picula said on 23 August said his organization's monitors "had seen a growing political polarization in the country. They were particularly concerned by the practice of the State Audit Office of using broad discretionary authority to investigate

1368-784: The Chechen conflict and corruption investigations. In October, agents from the National Security Ministry raided the headquarters of Rustavi-2. The tax-raid was broadcast on television from outside the building. Upwards of seven thousand student-led protestors, many mobilized by the Liberty Institute NGO, amassed outside the headquarters and demanded the resignation of the Shevardnadze government. Shevardnadze responded by sacking his cabinet and his minister of security. Importantly, this event triggered

1444-483: The European Union in their subsequent report on the elections. The coalition initially gained fifteen of the 150 seats that were elected by party list, but the votes in several of these constituencies were annulled after the elections. They had also retained two seats from single-mandate constituencies which they gained in the 2003 Georgian parliamentary election , the results of which were largely annulled after

1520-648: The Parliament session with red roses in hand. The revolution was led by Shevardnadze's former political allies, Mikheil Saakashvili, Nino Burjanadze and Zurab Zhvania . Consisting of twenty days of protests from 3 to 23 November 2003, the Revolution triggered new presidential and parliamentary elections in Georgia, which brought the National Movement – Democrats coalition to the power. The death of Zurab Zhvania in uncertain circumstances and

1596-460: The 2 November parliamentary elections in Georgia fell short of a number of OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections. Mikheil Saakashvili claimed that he had won the elections (a claim supported by independent exit polls ). This was confirmed by an independent parallel vote tabulation (PVT) conducted by the ISFED (International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy,

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1672-510: The Corrections and Legal Assistance Minister, Khatuna Kalmakhelidze. Saakashvili said: "Tonight, I tell all the victims of these inhuman actions and the whole nation that the Georgia we have built and we are all building together shall not and will not tolerate such behaviour - in its prisons or anywhere else. Those who committed these crimes will spend long years in jail, as will those who bribed guards to stage these horrors and film them." At

1748-641: The Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania arrived in Georgia on 17 September in support of the democratic process, political reforms in the country and Georgia's "Euro-Atlantic integration." They were due to meet with President Saakashvili , Speaker of Parliament David Bakradze , Secretary of the National Security Council Giga Bokeria , unnamed opposition figures and the EU's electoral Monitoring Mission. This followed

1824-479: The New Rights Party (NRP) being the most successful political party, obtaining 558 parliamentary seats. The Citizens' Union of Georgia won only 70 out of approximately 4,850 local parliamentary seats. Following the disastrous 2002 local elections, Shevardnadze made a concerted attempt to rebuild a political coalition that could support him. The CUG was rebuilt before the 2003 parliamentary election, which

1900-506: The Rose Revolution, and numerous large and relatively uninhibited NGOs were able to operate in Georgia prior to the 2003 parliamentary elections. Georgia's weak economy allowed these NGOs, who were often partially foreign funded, to pay decent salaries that would not have been available in working for the Georgian state. As early as the Summer of 2002, there was great concern amongst the leaders of Georgia's most influential NGOs that Shevardnadze

1976-432: The Rose Revolution. Both New Rights and Industrialists found their support largely in the private enterprise community and were particularly popular with those employed in the private sector. As a result, for years the two parties fought each other for the same electorate. While the alliance was formed only weeks before the 2004 elections, the party leaders subsequently agreed to merge their two groups into one party, forming

2052-540: The Saakashvili government and announcing his intention to establish a political party and to run in the 2012 parliamentary elections. He named the Republican Party, led by David Usupashvili , and Our Georgia – Free Democrats, led by Irakli Alasania , among his future partners. In a written statement, Ivanishvili revealed that, beyond dual Georgian and Russian citizenship, he also had a French passport. As

2128-595: The Soros Foundation ... all the NGOs which gravitate around the Soros Foundation undeniably carried the revolution. However, one cannot end one's analysis with the revolution [only] and one clearly sees that, afterwards, the Soros Foundation and the NGOs were integrated into power. The amount of international involvement created a variety of conspiracy theories. The most popular implies that the United States

2204-730: The UNM succeeded in getting a majority of the votes for its proposed electoral system reform, effectively splintering the Group of Eight opposition coalition. Two members of the coalition — the Christian-Democratic Movement (CDM), and the New Rights , as well as two other opposition parties – the National-Democratic Party , and On Our Own — signed a deal with the UNM on a reformed electoral system, envisaging, among other provisions, an increase in

2280-413: The United States, as in other colour revolutions, has been a subject of significant controversy. The Citizens' Union of Georgia (CUG) had been the ruling party for most of Eduard Shevardnadze 's Presidency, and represented the interests of Shevardnadze loyalists. The ineffectiveness of the government and the decreasing popularity of the regime led to the defection of numerous parliamentary deputies from

2356-473: The autonomous Adjara region, who sent thousands of his supporters to hold a pro-governmental counter-demonstration in Tbilisi. The opposition protest reached its peak on November 22, when President Shevardnadze attempted to open the new session of parliament. This session was considered illegitimate by two of the four major opposition parties. Supporters of two of those parties, led by Saakashvili, burst into

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2432-454: The capital of Tbilisi to the country's second largest city of Kutaisi later, in 2012. A new government was also formed following the 2013 presidential election as envisaged by the 2010 constitutional amendments. In 2009, opposition parties together held protests to demand the resignation of President Mikheil Saakashvili accusing him of concentrating power to himself, using riot police to crush opposition rallies in 2007 . Protests seeking

2508-436: The case of a former Georgian parliamentarian who alleges that in the three months prior to the Rose Revolution, "Soros spent $ 42 million ramping-up for the overthrow of Shevardnadze. Among the personalities who worked for Soros' organizations who later assumed positions in the Georgian government are: Former Georgian Foreign Minister Salomé Zourabichvili wrote: These institutions were the cradle of democratization, notably

2584-533: The center-right alternative to initially center-left National Movement , which won the 2004 parliamentary election and became the governing party in Georgia. The alliance's main political priorities included securing a flat tax system in Georgia; reducing government regulations on business; increasing economic growth and job creation in the private sector; rising defense spending and securing NATO membership no later than 2010; and promoting liberal democratic political institutions. The alliance also supported creating

2660-536: The central streets of Tbilisi, soon involving almost all major cities and towns of Georgia in a concerted campaign of civil resistance . The " Kmara " ("Enough!") youth organization (a Georgian counterpart of the Serbian " Otpor! ") and several NGOs , like the Liberty Institute , were active in all protest activities. Shevardnadze's government was backed by Aslan Abashidze , the semi-separatist leader of

2736-585: The country that could later coordinate protest. Foreign support for the Shevardnadze regime declined from 2000 to 2003, with notable figures outwardly calling for a more democratic transition. These included Richard Miles (the US ambassador to Georgia ), and allies of the Bush administration , including a visit from James Baker (the former U.S. Secretary of State ) who pressured Shevardnadze to accept parallel vote tabulation and pushed for free election standards. In

2812-417: The day after the elections, President Saakashvili conceded that his United National Movement had been defeated. He announced that power would be transferred to a new government formed by the victorious Georgian Dream coalition. Georgian Dream leader Ivanishvili called on the president to resign to avoid a "sort of dual power situation," but took back this demand on the day after. The opposition coalition formed

2888-469: The day before. Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania and Interior Minister Giorgi Baramidze negotiated with Adjaran Interior Minister Jemal Gogitidze to withdraw his forces from the administrative border at the Choloki River and led Georgian Special Forces into the region. Abashidze bowed to the inevitable, resigned in the same evening and left for Moscow . President Saakashvili visited Batumi

2964-526: The defection of Mikheil Saakashvili and the abdication of Zurab Zhvania from their positions in the Citizens' Union of Georgia, eventually leading to the formation of the National Movement and United Democrats opposition parties. While still the target of government harassment, Rustavi-2 continued to air anti-Shevardnadze material until 2003. This included the repeated airing of Bringing Down

3040-663: The elections demonstrates the people of that country are looking for changes. If those results become a reality – Georgia’s political landscape will be more versatile. This is only positive, as, most likely, this means more constructive and responsible forces will appear in the parliament. United Russia , being the leading political force in Russia, is ready for a dialogue on future of the Russia-Georgia relations ". Russian Foreign Ministry ’s spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said "I hope for constructive changes to let us normalise

3116-452: The form of unpaid salaries and pensions reached $ 120 million. Deterioration of public infrastructure was also poorly addressed by Shevardnadze's government. Georgian businesses lost an average of 110 business days per year because of failures in infrastructure (usually in the energy sector). The state was unable to repair the crumbling infrastructure or consistently enforce the law. Social conditions also further deteriorated, with over half of

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3192-414: The government began to use deceptive accounting techniques to mask budget deficiencies. Shevardnadze's government found itself both starved of funds and unable to meet IMF standards for international loans. The IMF finally suspended its own funding for Georgia in 2002. Without access to international loans, Georgia would not be able to restructure or repay its significant debts. In the period before 2003,

3268-408: The growth rate of the Georgian economy fell. The 1998 economic crisis in Russia, Georgia's main energy provider and trade partner, put an end to Georgia's modest recovery. While there was some economic growth in 2003, a budgetary crisis weakened the state. The Georgian government's meager program of public goods and basic services had been chronically underfunded for years. By the end of 2003, debt in

3344-483: The joint opposition list challenged the official figures and asserted that Georgian Dream had won more seats than announced by the Electoral Commission. However, on 4 October Ivanishvili prompted his supporters to halt their protests in front of District Election Commissions. [REDACTED] Russia - Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on the day after the elections that "information on results of

3420-456: The key players were primarily Russia and the United States. Russia was suspected of being involved in Georgia's affairs from the beginning as it was assumed to have been involved in various coup and assassination attempts of Shevardnadze. Georgia, a state that was previously under Soviet influence, took independence in the 1990s, but saw much disarray in the form of separatist Groups, particularly those that were Russian-backed. The United States felt

3496-566: The legal protection to criticize the government, making it a leader amongst the former Eastern Bloc . Nonetheless, the government tried repeatedly to shut Rustavi-2 down. The station operated out of Tbilisi and managed to survive the regime's harassment and intimidation techniques. Rustavi-2 was partially financially supported, trained, and sometimes protected by USAID and the Eurasia Foundation, which often mobilized public and international support to prevent government interference in

3572-613: The legality of individual or party spending and making questionable decisions and imposing harsh penalties without clear or transparent guidelines. The fines levied were disproportionate and apparently being applied in a selective manner mainly targeting one political subject". President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Riccardo Migliori added that "there was little part of Leninism in Georgian electoral campaign, rather than presenting programs, they were trying to destroy their enemies." On

3648-887: The need for free elections. Baker proposed a formula for representation of the various parties on the electoral commissions at each level. Shevardnadze agreed, but immediately began maneuvering against the Baker formula. On 3 November the International Election Observation Mission, composed of the Parliamentary Assemblies of the OSCE and the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), concluded that

3724-640: The next day and was met by celebrating Adjarans. The Orange Revolution , which followed the disputed November 2004 Ukrainian presidential election , is said to have been partly inspired by the Georgian Rose Revolution. 2012 Georgian parliamentary election Vano Merabishvili UNM Bidzina Ivanishvili Georgian Dream Parliamentary elections were held in Georgia on 1 October 2012. The opposition Georgian Dream coalition of billionaire businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili won

3800-468: The number of parliamentary seats up to 190 (83 majoritarian and 107 proportional seats). Six of the former coalition members — National Forum , Our Georgia – Free Democrats (OGFD), Conservative Party , Republican Party , Georgia's Way , and the People's Party — refused to join the deal and unveiled a new alliance on 8 July, though it collapsed on 6 October. Democratic Movement – United Georgia ,

3876-462: The opposition leaders Saakashvili and Zurab Zhvania to discuss the situation, in a meeting arranged by Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov . After the meeting, the president announced his resignation. That prompted euphoria in the streets of Tbilisi. More than 50,000 protesters celebrated the victory all night long, accompanied by fireworks and rock concerts. Following the resignation of Eduard Shevardnadze, new elections were planned to bring power to

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3952-512: The population finding itself under the poverty line, creating even greater dissatisfaction with the Shevardnadze administration. Corruption among state officials and police, while not new, was certainly exacerbated by Georgia's lack of budget revenue. The official salary of a Georgian state minister was around 150 Lari in 1998 (approximately US$ 75). Low pay forced many state employees to turn to alternative sources of income, often involving corrupt activities. President Shevardnadze came to be seen as

4028-500: The powers of President in favor of Prime Minister of Georgia and the government. According to another amendment, passed on 1 July 2011, the parliament elected in 2012 would be permanently relocated from Tbilisi to the country's second largest city of Kutaisi . In November 2010, the United National Movement and several opposition parties launched talks in order to develop a new electoral system. On 27 June 2011,

4104-585: The president's resignation were suppressed once again in 2011. According to the amendments to the Constitution of Georgia passed on 15 October 2010, the Parliament elected in 2012 would have to form a new government after the constitutional amendments entered into force upon the inauguration of the next president, who was to be elected in October 2013. The amendments envisaged significant reduction of

4180-435: The pro-Shevardnadze bloc. The susceptibility of Shevardnadze's government and his plummeting popularity between 2000 and 2003 can partially be traced to economic problems and mismanagement. Beginning in 1998, actual national budget revenues began to fall far short of projections. In 1999, the Georgian state collected only 70% of its projected revenue, a state of affairs that would continue through 2003. To address this problem,

4256-711: The regime deteriorated (particularly in the West), public perceptions of Shevardnadze's political weakness increased. A significant source of funding for NGOs and election monitoring organizations came from foreign governments and individuals. The U.S. and European governments gave the OSCE ( Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe ) the funds to support foreign election observers. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)§ spent $ 1.5 million to computerize Georgia's voter rolls. The Open Society Institute (OSI), funded by George Soros, supported Mikheil Saakashvili and

4332-430: The relations. We will be judging not by statements, but by deeds”. At the same time, he warned Georgia’s new ruling power that Russia was not going to hold any negotiations on the law on "occupied territories", which Georgia adopted following the 2008 South Ossetia war . Lukashevich said that Russia would refer to the "Republic of Abkhazia" and "Republic of Ossetia" and not use the term "occupied territories". Chairman of

4408-400: The revolution was a good opportunity to make a serious attempt in the establishment of democracy not only in Georgia, but the region it was in. The U.S. Agency for International Development was reported to have spent $ 1.5 million on modernizing Georgia's voting system. They also invested in 3,000 election observers throughout the country. One of the biggest forms of international involvement

4484-658: The ruling party in 2000. The first group to leave the CUG represented the business community and would go on to form the New Rights Party (NRP) in 2001. This began the collapse of the party, as numerous party officials and deputies defected to join or form other parties. Eduard Shevardnadze himself resigned from the chairmanship of the CUG in September 2001. Fatefully, Mikheil Saakashvili (the Minister of Justice) left

4560-400: The ruling party in September and would form the National Movement opposition party one month later. The defections continued for the next two years, and left the Citizens' Union of Georgia as a far weaker party with support clustered in a few regions, and a leadership notorious for accumulating wealth illegally through their positions in government. The disintegration of the party highlighted

4636-516: The screening of a video on Maestro TV and Ivanishvili 's TV9 channel, showing torture in a Georgian prison, demonstrators called for Saakashvili's resignation. While the video was labeled as having been made by "politically motivated persons," the national prosecutor's office announced the arrests of 10 people, including the head of the Prison No.8 in Tbilisi, two deputies and prison guards. The interior minister, Bacho Akhalaia, resigned, as well as

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4712-491: The session with roses in their hands (hence the name Rose Revolution), interrupting a speech of President Eduard Shevardnadze and forcing him to escape with his bodyguards. He later declared a state of emergency and began to mobilize troops and police near his residence in Tbilisi. However, the elite military units refused to support the government. In the evening of November 23 ( St George 's Day in Georgia), Shevardnadze met with

4788-473: The station's reporting. The broadcasts of Rustavi-2 ended up being instrumental in building the opposition and encouraging protest. Two events in 2001 caused an outcry of public opinion against the government. In July, a popular anchor for the Rustavi-2 network, Giorgi Sanaia , was murdered. The consensus among Georgian journalists and the public was that he was killed because of his anti-government work on

4864-561: The three years before the Rose Revolution, foreign financial support for the regime began to become severely limited. Instead, foreign states and organizations gave financial assistance to NGOs and opposition parties within Georgia, worsening the desperate budget situation of the Shevardnadze government. The United States announced a reduction in aid, coinciding with a decision by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to suspend aid to Georgia. As international support for

4940-629: The virtual dictator of the autonomous region, thousands of Adjarans, mobilized by the United National Movement and Kmara , protested against Abashidze's policy of separatism and militarization. Abashidze used security forces and paramilitary groups to break up the demonstrations in the streets of Batumi and Kobuleti. However, he failed to suppress the protests, and they grew in size and scope. On May 6, 2004 (again St George 's Day), protesters from all Ajara gathered in Batumi despite being dispersed by force

5016-481: The weakness of the Shevardnadze regime and dispersed the political elite amongst a number of new parties and independent platforms. The collapse of the Citizens' Union of Georgia and more apparent public discontent with Shevardnadze allowed for the formation of numerous new parties after 2000. The ruling party showed its vulnerability in the 2002 local elections, losing decisively to independents and new parties. The local elections saw independents secure 2754 seats, with

5092-416: The withdrawal of Nino Burjanadze into opposition eventually established the United National Movement as the single ruling party. The next change of power in Georgia was brought by the 2012 Georgian parliamentary election . The Rose Revolution is considered one of the early examples of colour revolutions . It was marked by strong role of non-governmental organizations and student activism . The role of

5168-577: The youngest European president at the age of 36. On March 28, 2004, new parliamentary elections were held, with a large majority won by the Saakashvili-supporting National Movement - Democrats , and a minority representation of the Rightist Opposition . After being elected, Saakashvili wasted no time in passing a series of legislation and reforms. Criticized as being very "pro-western," his agenda

5244-537: Was a nonviolent change of power that occurred in Georgia in November 2003. The event was brought about by widespread protests over the disputed parliamentary elections and culminated in the resignation of President Eduard Shevardnadze , which marked the end of the Soviet era leadership in the country. The revolution derives its name from the climactic moment, when demonstrators led by Mikheil Saakashvili stormed

5320-463: Was able to improve the country's economy and launch a new anti-corruption campaign. He was able to bring the country's rating according to the World Bank from 122nd to 18th in the world by expanding the banking sector by 40 percent, increasing foreign investment to $ 3 billion, and maintaining an annual growth of 9.5%. Many countries watched Georgia transition from an autocracy to a democracy, but

5396-413: Was not prepared to relinquish power voluntarily, and that other ways to remove him from power might be necessary. Some of these leaders hoped to make the 'Serbian scenario' a reality in Georgia, in the sense that they wanted to promote non-violent protests to force the resignation of an authoritarian leader. Before the Rose Revolution, a large network of NGOs with foreign financial support already existed in

5472-497: Was relatively low, they were ultimately successful in mobilizing the population to play a more active role in government. Two of the most important were the Georgian Young Lawyers Association and the Liberty Institute , both of which were active in the promotion of human rights and freedom of information legislation before the Rose Revolution. Shevardnadze had allowed the development of NGOs before

5548-600: Was responsible for the overthrow of Shevardnadze. Many non-governmental organizations from the U.S. were in Georgia actively educating the people on human rights and the ideals of democracy. Also, the U.S. Ambassador in Georgia at the time, Richard Miles, was also the U.S. Ambassador in Belgrade from 1996 to 1999. In May 2004, the so-called "Second Rose Revolution" took place in Batumi , Adjara . After months of extreme tension between Saakashvili's government and Aslan Abashidze ,

5624-412: Was then put in the ballot box. This was not a presidential election; that was set to occur in the spring of 2005, at the expiration of President Shevardnadze's second and final term. In July 2003, U.S. president George W. Bush sent former secretary of state James Baker to meet with both opposition leaders and President Shevardnadze. To the latter, Baker delivered a letter from Bush sternly stressing

5700-399: Was understood to be a key trial before the 2005 presidential election. However, President Shevardnadze's popularity rating had plummeted to around 5%, undermining any attempt to revive the CUG under his leadership. The new CUG further found itself divided over internal disputes, and lacking effective leadership to replace those that had defected. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) played

5776-521: Was with George Soros and the Open Society Foundation located in the United States. A non-governmental organization whose mission is to promote democracy, human rights, and reform in various areas, such as the economy helped in the making of Kmara, a student movement that was brought to Serbia by the foundation to get insight for the resistance, particularly training in non-violent methods of protest. Translating as "Enough," it resembled

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